PROJECT MESO
by DoubleBladedPublishers
Summary: The year is 2028. Three years ago, the U.N. created Project MESO, a scientific/military operation to fight the sinister NERO. In this story, Winston, a young British veteran, is drawn into this world of dinosaurs and terrorists, and he and his team must defeat NERO and discover their plan to conquer the world.
1. PROLOGUE: THE TEST

_**Southeast Asian Rainforest, 2025**_

It is a dark, humid night in the rainforest. The silence of the night is penetrated by the chattering and hooting sounds of the wildlife. The noise of an armored jeep adds to the noise as it drives toward a clearing in the dense foliage. In the clearing, a base camp sits, its portable labs, armories, and barracks glistening in the moonlight. The base camp belongs to a PMC-turned-terrorist group known as NERO. They have the most advanced army in the world, and they have declared war on the U.N. They are expecting an assault by the U.N. with Ares walker tanks or Phoenix VTOL jets, but the U.N. has a new, secret project to test. The guards hear a thudding noise coming from the jungle. Thinking that it is the Ares tank that they were expecting, they send their armored soldiers out to take down the threat. The thudding begins to become faster and closer. "That's not an Ares," says one soldier, "it's too fast." A roar rips through the rainforest. "Definitely not an Ares," says the soldier. The trees shake, and a large form rips through the trees. It is tall and scaly, with very short arms, three toed feet attached to muscular legs, and a long, thick tail. Its head has a medium length snout filled with curved, serrated teeth that shine in the moonlight, and small rust red eyes that shimmer with power.

It is also armored in a silver metal exoskeleton, with two mounted minigun turrets manned by two soldiers wearing strange looking combat armor. This is an armored T-Rex, and it's ready to kill. The soldiers open fire with their assault rifles, but the bullets bounce harmlessly off of the armor. The turret soldiers fire back and it tears apart the soldiers' bodies in an explosion of blood. More soldiers show up, and the T-Rex eats them with pleasure. The armored beast charges into the base camp. The soldiers manning the guns let bullets rip through the camp, tearing apart the rest of the soldiers. The gunmen switch to rocket launchers, and destroy the rest of the base. The sound of the explosions tear through the night, and the T-Rex lets out a triumphant roar. Overhead, a cloaked drone hovers, watching the whole thing.

On an island in the Pacific, a man sits behind a desk, watching the drone footage. He sends it to the U.N., who, after viewing the footage, video call him and say, "Oasis Base, you are clear for genesis. Project Meso is now underway."


	2. Chapter 1: Winston

_**London, England, 2028**_

Winston Darkes looked out the window. He contemplated how he survived the war, while drinking his favorite Earl Grey tea in his apartment. He is a tall man, age 24, with black hair, bright green eyes, and a black goatee on his face. Four years ago, he was part of the British Army. His platoon was given a single task on that fateful day in Africa: check out and stop the strange disturbances in the town next to the base. His platoon's back up was a group of NERO forces. As soon as they had gotten to the site of the disturbances, Winston noticed something. Being hyper-observant, he noticed micro-sound projectors. Knowing it was a trap, Winston ran as the NERO forces turned on the British soldiers. It was a bloodbath, or would have been if NERO hadn't been using energy weapons. The energy beams tore through the soldiers like a hot knife through butter. Winston managed to hide behind a small hill before the NERO soldiers massacred the British fighters. While he was hiding behind the hill, he heard a click. He looked down. His hand was resting on a primed Vacuum Mine. He took his hand off and tried to run, but it was too late. A wave of antigravitic pulling force tore his hand off and sucked it into the center of the vortex created by the mine. He was screaming in pain. He began to try to walk away. He was slowed by the antigravitic wave, but he was getting away. When he was almost out of the blast radius, he was able to run, but that was short lived. As he jumped out of the affected area, the wave curled around his lower right leg and severed it. He screamed in pain just as the gravity wave stopped and the mine exploded. His last sight before he passed out by blood loss was a farmer who lived in the town saying, "Are you okay?"

Winston did not want to dwell on the memory. He calibrated his arm and leg prostheses, which look like they are real, flesh and blood arms and legs, before walking out the door to check his mail. When he was sifting through his mail, something silver caught his eye. It was a small, extremely thin tablet-like device, with the symbol of the United Nations War Council. Winston was interested now. _What the hell does the UNWC want with a bloke like me, _he thought. He picked up the tablet device, and turned it on. In an electronic voice, the tablet began to speak. "_Identify,_" it said, "_name and rank." _"Corporal Winston Darkes, leader of the 402nd British Platoon," he said. "_Analyzing voiceprint. Voiceprint confirmed. Activating facial recognition software,_" it said. Blue scanning beams danced across his face, identifying every detail. "_Facial recognition complete and confirmed. Welcome Winston. Now playing message." _A middle aged woman appeared on the screen. He saluted, because this was the Chairwoman of the UNWC. "At ease Corporal," said the Chairwoman. "Winston, we know about your experiences with NERO," she said. "What about them," Winston said quizzically. "The UNWC is recruiting you to join an anti-NERO operation, known as Project MESO. Report to the Albany Street Barracks for transportation. Bring this tablet with you as identification. Everything else will be provided. Good luck and Godspeed," said the Chairwoman as the video ended.

Winston made his way over to the base around midnight. Sitting on the roof of the building was an FT-27 Royal Eagle. It was a VTOL jet, built for high speed transport, armed with a fleet of Falcon defense drones in case of aerial attack, and equipped with SCRamjet engines, allowing it to travel at Mach 24. He went to the roof. A pair of guards stopped him. "Identify yourself, sir," they said. Winston pulled out the tablet device and held it in front of him. They looked at it, then let him pass. He stepped inside the jet, and saw four people inside. The first one was about his age, and he was a little bit shorter than Winston, with a blond buzz cut, brown eyes, and stubble on his face. The second man was also around Winston's age, with black hair, blue eyes, and is cleanly shaven. The third person is a little older than Winston. She looked Japanese, with long black hair and grey eyes. The fourth was the same age as Winston. He looked as if he was from somewhere like Jamaica or Trinidad. His hair was extremely short and black, and he had green eyes. Winston walked to a seat next to the blond man, sat down, and strapped himself in as the jet took off. Winston looked at the man next to him and said, "What's your name?" "Nicolas Montagner," replied the man with a slight French accent. "Are you French Army," asked Winston. "_Non, _I was a pilot in the _Armée de l'Air," _said Nicolas. _Interesting,_ Winston thought. He looked at the rest and inquired, "What are your names, and what countries' defense divisions are you from?" The blue-eyed man spoke in a German accent and said, "Captain Wilhelm Haiburg, _Heer." _The Japanese woman said, "I am Master Sergeant Ryujina Wolhakhi, of the _Rikujō Jieitai."_ The fourth man said, "Tre' Raines, TTDF."_ Interesting diversity, _thought Winston, _but what do we have in common? _His thoughts were cut short as the jet landed and the ramp opened. The pilot stepped out of the cockpit and said, "Listen up soldiers. We're here now. To join this operation, you must prove yourself. So, weapon up and let the games begin."


	3. Chapter 2: War Games

_**Unknown Island, Pacific Ocean, 2028**_

The pilot pressed a button on the inside of the ramp opening of the jet. The floor opened up and an armory tower, bristling with weapons, rose out of the floor. "Pick the weapons that best suit you. Pick anything," said the pilot. Ryujina was the first to step up. She chose a MRAD sniper rifle with a strange scope. She loaded it with a clip of grey bullets. The pilot looked at her and said, "Those are EXACTO bullets. DARPA made. You mark a target with the scope, then you fire, and the bullet follows the target, with no wind resistance." "Interesting," said Winston, "I don't remember that DARPA project, and I know them all." "It was made a while ago," said the pilot. Next up was Winston. He chose two Magpul FMG-9s. He folded them up into their compact stealth mode and put them in his back pockets. The next to choose was Nicolas, who chose an M32 grenade launcher and an Armatix iP1 smart pistol. After Nicolas, Wilhelm chose an XM-25 smart grenade launcher and a Beretta LTLX7000 shotgun. Then, Tré chose an ADS amphibious rifle. "Why choose that one," the pilot asked Tré. "I work better submerged," said Tré. "I see you are ready for this game. All right. There are two teams, those with and those without." "Those with what," asked Winston. "You'll see. Anyway, your team's base is this jet. Your goal is to get past your enemy's defenses, get to their base, and capture their Beacon. Whoever activates the other team's Beacon and successfully gets it back to their base wins. Team leader is Winston. You have 10 minutes to strategize and prepare. Then the game begins. Now, go! Your time is already ticking down," says the pilot. The team creates a strategy by looking at a holomap of the enemy base. Winston went over the strategy one last time, saying, "Ryujina, you take the high ground, provide cover fire for Wilhelm and I as we go to get the Beacon. Nicolas, get a stealth-surveillance drone in the air and keep us on comms if you find the enemy team. Tré, there's a deep pond next to the base. Hide in there and fire at the enemies if they show up. Are we ready?" "Yeah," said the team. "Then let's move out!"

Winston and Wilhelm run through the jungle towards the clearing the base is in. Ryujina is in a tree near the base, watching the two preparing to storm the enemy base. Tré is holding his breath below the surface of the pond, prepared to fire. Nicolas is back at the jet, controlling a cloaked VTOL surveillance drone, watching for enemy movement. "Okay," said Nic, "you are clear to move in." Winston and Wilhelm charge toward the base. As they did this, the team heard Nic mutter, "_Putain, qu'est-ce que c'est..." "_What is it," asked Winston. "Fucking dinosaurs," shouted Nic. "The hell is he talking about," says Wilhelm. Hearing crashing through the trees, Winston says, "I have a feeling we're about to find out." The trees split open as an armored T-Rex burst through the trees. Its scales are dark greenish-brown, with mossy green tiger stripes along the top of its snout and along its spine. Its snout is filled with long, serrated teeth, and its small, pale yellow eyes stare at the two with what seems like cold anger. Two soldiers in armor sit in two turret posts, armed with heavy, mounted machine guns. "Holy shit. Stay still. Its vision is based on movement," whispers Wilhelm. The T-Rex roars and begins to run towards them, and the soldiers on the T-Rex begin to fire. "What the fuck do you think this is, Jurassic Park? Wilhelm, run and get the Beacon. I'll distract the T-Rex," says Winston. Winston runs and yells, getting the T-Rex's attention. It chases him into the forest. Wilhelm runs toward the base, goes in, and takes the Beacon, which looks like a cylindrical thermos with a blue laser lens in the top. As he turns around, a Utahraptor tackles him to the ground. The Raptor is 6 feet tall, covered in dark grey scales, with dark red streaks down its spine and red and dark blue feathers adorn its head. He pushes the Raptor off, grabs the Beacon, and runs. A soldier with armor stands behind the door, aiming a silenced Armatix iP1 pistol. "Take the shot," Wilhelm whispers into his communicator. A bullet hits the soldier in the heart, and he falls. Wilhelm breaks into a run towards his team's base, activating the Beacon, alerting the other team to his position. He looks behind him and he sees the T-Rex and its riders, the Raptor and the soldier, and a soldier riding an armored Triceratops. Wilhelm gets into the jet just in time. He finds a cylindrical hole in the top of the armory tower and inserts the Beacon. The Beacon activates, and the team hears a voice say, "The Red team has retrieved the Beacon. War Game complete." The rest of the team returns to the jet and the jet takes off. The pilot set the jet on autopilot and appears from the dark cockpit and says, "Congrats. You've won the War Game. This means that you are now officially members of Project MESO." "What does MESO stand for," asks Nicolas. "It's actually a shortening," says the pilot, "short for Mesozoic." The plane touches down. "Time to see the new workplace and meet the boss," says the pilot as he opens the jet ramp.


	4. Chapter 3: Welcome to Project MESO

_**Oasis Base, Pacific Ocean, 2028**_

As the pilot opens the ramp, the five individuals stare out at the scene in front of them in awe. A huge building made of steel towers over the jungle, the tops of the buildings adorned with Plexiglas dome structures. The whole building and the large plaza in front of it are nestled in a massive mountain waterfall. The plaza in front of the base is filled with people and..._dinosaurs._ People are walking around the plaza with dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. "What the fuck," they all said in their respective languages. "How did you do this," asked Winston. "I'm not the person to ask. You should ask the boss when we get there," says the pilot. The pilot leads the team into the center of the main building, a large room with a clear domed ceiling. People are walking through the enormous room with dinosaurs of multiple sizes, from the size of a chicken to bigger than a small house. They continue walking, and they pass a lab where eggs are being turned by a machine and microsyringes are being injected into them. Scientists are monitoring the eggs, checking their temperature and their development. The group and their pilot step into an elevator. The pilot presses the top button and the elevator rockets skyward. "Sorry I didn't tell you before. My name is Conner." "Nice to meet you," says the team. The elevator opens into an office. The walls are shiny black metal with blue lights lining the walls. In the center of the room, there is a long, hexagonal black conference table with many chairs around it. A holoprojector is built into the center of the table. Sitting at the end of the table is a tall American man in strange-looking military fatigues that are decorated with the badges of an Army Colonel. He also has a strange circular badge on his shoulder that looks like a circle made of golden dinosaur footprints. Standing next to the man is a small dinosaur. Its body is smaller than a Raptor's, but it looks similar. Its scales are blackish-grey, and its body is covered with orange-gold fur-like feathers. Its head has a single red, oblong crest, extending from the front of its snout to the top of its head. The man pets its head, and it trills and hums happily. The man stands up. He looks over at the group, who introduce themselves. "I am Colonel Richard Mayllard," he said, and gestured to his dinosaur, "and this is Phoenix, my Guanlong." "How did you do all this," asked Winston. "I would like to know as well," said Ryujina, "how did you get the DNA?" "Sit down and I'll tell you," said Colonel Mayllard. The group sat down at the table, and Mayllard began to speak. "We at the UNWC had been keeping an eye on NERO for quite some time, considering they are the second biggest army in the world and the most technologically advanced army. When they turned, we lost many people from many armies all around the world. We were trying to figure out what to use against this power. Then, when all hope seemed lost, a team of paleontologists, engineers, and geneticists came to us with a new hope. They had discovered a way to take ancient DNA from mosquitoes in amber, like in Jurassic Park, but they went about it a slightly different way. They modified the dinosaurs by filling the DNA gaps with many different types of DNA, giving them special capabilities, such as camouflage, venom spitting, or other defenses and attacks. They agreed to help us in defeating NERO with this technology, and we took their genetic modification a step further. We used technological aspects to make the dinosaurs even more powerful, such as using our own created genetic compounds to add more capabilities, such as increased senses, burning venom, and tougher skin. We then armored them with light but protective armor, and added weapons to the armor. We trained soldiers to operate the weapons and how to care for these creatures. We gave two soldiers a Tyrannosaur, named Alpha, to take care of and ride into battle. That day, the first Titan team was born. We sent them with Alpha to take down a NERO base, and we had the entire UNWC watching. When we destroyed the base, the Council gave us a go. Project MESO was born." The colonel stood up, and so did the team. He saluted them, and so did they. "It was good to meet you all today. Conner will show you around the place, and he will show you to your dorms. You will undergo training and become a team once you all pick your partners. Understood," he asked, "Yes, sir," replied the team. Conner led them out of the room and back to the main floor to begin their tour.

They walked back into the large room they walked through when they entered the building. In the center of the room is a silver statue of Alpha and his riders. "This is Alpha Hall, the main hall of the Project MESO headquarters," said Conner. "Where exactly is this island, and how have people not found it," asked Ryujina. "This island is Oasis Base, an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We have made the base undetectable by any means. There is a form of shielding around the island that protects it from sonar, radar, infrared, laser scan, and satellite imaging. It even blocks it from vision, so all that anyone can see is an empty spot in the middle of the ocean. Any ship that sails by our island is instantly routed around the island. That's how," explained Conner. "Cool," said Ryujina. "Anyway, let's move on," said Conner. As they walked, they went to the room they saw earlier with the eggs inside. "This is the Embryonics Lab, where we engineer and modify new specimens every day," explained Conner. They continued walking until they reached a metal blast door. He opened it into a large cave with a metal ceiling, filled with vehicles, like jets and subs. A blinding light filled the cave as the cave ceiling opened, and a VTOL jet, like the ones that took the team to the island, landed in the cave. "This is the Garage. It's where we keep most of our vehicles. The rest of our air and sea vehicles are stored on the Bastion and the Nautilus," explained Conner. "What are the Bastion and Nautilus," asked Wilhelm. "The Bastion is an Atmofortress, in command by our Low Atmosphere Assault Squadron. The Nautilus is a Subcarrier Hub Vehicle, used by our PaleOcean Naval Ops Team," Conner said. They left the Garage, and walked out of the building. The team walked into a forested area. They looked up and saw small metal buildings built into the trees. They have what looks like a camo generator on the roof of each of them. "These are your training dorms," said Conner, as he passed out small, key fob-like devices with fingerprint scanners on them. "These are Thumbprint Analyzing Access Remotes. They are keyed with your thumbprint, so only you can get to your dorms. These dorms are only temporary. When you pick your Dino partner, you will finally become a team, and will be moved to your own team dorm. All your things have been moved to the dorm buildings." The group used their TAARs to get into their dorms. Winston and Nicolas have a dorm together, as do Wilhelm and Tre', while Ryujina has a dorm to herself. Each dorm is somewhat small, with a holomessager in the middle of the room, a full bathroom, and a bedroom with two beds in it. As the day winds down, Winston looks outside. "What's on your mind," asked Nic. "All of this," said Winston, "I mean, why us?" "Everything happens for a reason," says Nic. "Get some sleep. Training begins tomorrow." Winston goes to sleep. _This is gonna be a long four months,_ he thought.


	5. Chapter 4: Winston's Choice

_**Oasis Base, 4 Months Later, 2028**_

It has been four months since training began. Winston Darkes, wearing basic MESO tech armor, runs towards a colossal Wyrm tank. The tank is German-made, in use by NERO, and it stomps toward him on four legs. The gun on top of it is not a normal cannon. It's a MAHEM. The shells from a MAHEM, when fired, use magnetic pulses to smash through armor, then send molten metal flowing into its targets. Winston has to be careful that he doesn't get "MAHEM'd" as the soldiers during training said. When one gets MAHEM'd, they get third degree burns and shrapnel all over their body, and they die, so no wonder you don't want to get MAHEM'd. As Winston runs, the MAHEM aims at him. He slides under the tank just in time, the MAHEM shell nearly hitting him. Winston equips a pair of Mag Grips to his boots and gloves. He jumps on the bottom of the tank and activates his Mag Grips, so he magnetically sticks to the underside of the massive Wyrm. As the Wyrm scuttles slowly along the ground, Winston takes a Magnetized and Directional Breaching Charge out of the bag on his back. He attaches it to the bottom of the tank with the explosive force conduit pointing up at the underside of the Wyrm. He activates the sound-blocking ear covers in his helmet, then uses a touchscreen built into the wrist of his armor to detonate the MADBC. The charge explodes, smashing a hole in the bottom of the Wyrm, and disorienting the soldiers inside. Winston decided it was his time to strike, so he jumped inside the tank, pulled his dual Magpuls, and shot the four men where they stood. He ran to the console and took control. He aimed the MAHEM cannon at the Mobile Railgun Platform that was slicing through his allies, and he fired. Upon impact with the MRP, the shell exploded and melted it. In that moment, everything but Winston froze, then turned black.

"Simulation successful. You may now exit the Sim Room," said a computerized voice. Winston walked out of the now blank room and was greeted by his team, the Colonel, and Phoenix. "Well done," said the members of his team. Phoenix trilled with delight, as if to say, "Good job!" The Colonel began to speak. "Team, well done. You are almost ready to become Team November. There are two people I'd like you to meet." As he says this, two men walk into the room. The first man is as tall as Winston. He has long black hair and a long beard. He looks at the team with eerie orange-hazel eyes. The other one is a giant of a man, with one blue eye and one grey eye with a scar running through it. "These two will be on your team. The guy with the beard is Volk Korennik, one of our finest medics. He's from Russia," says the Colonel. "_Privet,_" said Volk. "The other guy is Major Maximus Bones, the best damn tank operator in Australia." "G'day mates," said Bones. "These two are part of your team now, and you shall treat them as such. They shall live with you at your team base. Is that clear," asked the Colonel. "Crystal, sir," said the team. "Now follow me," said the Colonel, "because it's time to pick your partners."

The group lined up in front of the Kennel Buildings, which were the holding pens for dinos, aquas, and pteros who have yet to be chosen. Each member of the team was assigned a class so they would know what sort of dinos they would be able to choose from. In the cases of Nic and Tre', they were going to join the L.A.A.S. and PaleOcean Navy, respectively, so they would pick a ptero or an aqua instead of a dino. Nic and Tré were assigned their classes of L.A.A.S. and Navy. Winston was assigned to Assault/Escort, Ryujina to Stealth, Volk to Medic, Bones to Breaker, and Wilhelm to Titan. The group was led into the first building. The group stepped into an oversized cargo elevator. Mayllard pressed a button on the elevator, and the elevator car moved down. When they stopped, Colonel Mayllard said, "Now, pick wisely, Winston. Who you choose today will be your partner for the rest of your time with us." The team stepped out of the elevator and began to walk towards a large, circular metal door with a strange symbol on it. The symbol was a three toed, T-Rex-like footprint, with two assault rifles crossed under it. Winston knew the symbol from his four months on the island. It was the Assault/Escort class symbol. He walked over to the handprint scanner and scanned his hand. "Handprint match. Winston Darkes," a computerized voice said. "You and your team may now enter the Canyon."

The door opened into a large canyon and grasslands area. The team walked through the canyon and into the grassland. In the distance, they saw a herd of gazelles running toward them. The team moved out of the way as the herd moved past them and stopped to graze. They saw a group of multiple medium size carnivorous dinosaurs running towards the flock. They sped up and ran straight into the herd. The dinosaurs began to rip through the gazelles like paper, killing and eating them with gusto. The team backed away, but Winston stayed in his spot. Three of the dinosaurs saw him, and they stomped toward him, sniffing to see if he was a friend or a snack. The first dinosaur was an Allosaurus, 39 feet long and 16.5 feet tall, its scales a dark crimson. Its snout was about as long as a Rex's snout, and filled with deadly curved teeth. Over its dark eyes were bony protrusions covered in amber-colored scales. The second dinosaur was a Sinraptor, 10 feet tall and 25 feet long. Its scales were a dark leather brown, with stripes on varying shades of green. The third dinosaur was the one that truly caught his eye. It was about 27 feet long and 13 feet tall, and its pebble-like scales were a dark bronze color, and it had black and red streaks running down its body. It has a short, wide snout, its bottom jaw is slightly curved upward. Over the tops of its dark blue eyes, short, flat, black horns jut out of the skin. It was a Carnotaurus. The short-snouted carnivore came closer and sniffed him. The dinosaur then stepped back, unsure of the human standing there. Winston knew who he was to pick. He walked up to the Carnotaurus, which leaned down, so its head was level with him, and he petted its head. "I pick the Carnotaurus," said Winston triumphantly. Two dino keepers walked past the team and to the Carnotaurus, and they led it away. The team , led by the colonel, walked to a glass window looking into a room that the Carnotaurus had walked into. The Colonel pressed a button, and the window lit up. It scanned the predator on the other side of the window, and then produced an image on the window, and after that, a computerized voice began to speak. "Carnotaurus. Length: 30 feet. Height: 13 feet. Original era of residence: Late Cretaceous. This particular specimen has been engineered for charging into an attack. Our scientists injected it during development with a formula that thickened its skin to bulletproof levels. Is this your choice, Intermediate Officer Winston Darkes?" "Yes," responded Winston. "What will you name it," asked the team and the computerized voice. A keyboard came out of the bottom of the window. Winston typed _Stone _into the computer. "What will you and your partner's callsign be," asked the computer, "as this will be your comms callsign and your armor designation." Winston typed in _Matador_. "Callsign confirmed. Record complete. File designated as Matador." The computer then turned off. "Stone will be back at your team base. Armor for both of you will be made, then sent to you in two days. Got it," said Colonel Mayllard. "Yes, sir," said Winston. The Colonel and the team stepped back into the cargo elevator, and the rest of the team was ready to pick.


	6. Chapter 5: The Choice, Pt1

_**The Kennel Building, Oasis Base, 2028**_

The elevator doors opened up onto the Stealth floor, and the team steps out. They step out onto a reinforced concrete hall with synthetic vine creeping up the wall. The team walks to the door to the Shadowed Jungle. The door is thick, metal and rectangular, with three layers of interlacing steel bars. "Why is it so heavily guarded," asked Ryujina. "The stealth dinos try to escape quite frequently. Also, one of the deadliest things the scientists have cooked up on this island lies behind that door," said Colonel Mayllard. Phoenix sniffed the air and bolted back to the elevator. Ryujina hesitantly walked up to the door and scanned her hand. "Handprint matched. Ryujina Wolhakhi." The bars slid into the frame one layer at a time. The door slowly slid open, and Ryujina stepped inside alone.

The inside of the room really was a jungle, the enormous height of the kapok trees towering over Ryujina, blocking out the artificial sun, and almost touching the ceiling of the room. The air in the room is humid, and the sounds of birds, monkeys, and other jungle creatures fills the air. Ryujina felt like she was being watched. She didn't like this, so she pulled a Bowie knife out of its sheath on her belt, just in case. The attack was silent, and it came extremely quick. A large blur ran and tackled her to the ground. She looked up at what tackled her. It was large, about 8 feet tall and about as long as a male orca. Its snout was strange. Its snout had small pointed teeth in the front, then a strange "notch" in the jaw, and past that notch were longer. Beginning from its nostrils and ending over its eyes were rounded reddish-orange crests, edged by black scales. Its eyes are a kaleidoscope of red, orange, and gold, which are hypnotic to look at. Its scales are a dark tan color, with large black blotches ringed with blue splattered across its body. It has a cobra-like frill on the sides of its neck, puffing it out to make it seem bigger. Its breath is horrid, and it makes her feel faint. She hears the Colonel yelling, "Don't inhale its breath! It's the most potent toxin in the world!" This panicked Ryujina, and she held her nose and breath. She began to hum a melody to keep from freaking out. The dinosaur standing over her was puzzled. As she hummed, the dinosaur's crests changed to an icy bluish-purple, and it let her stand. She petted between its crests, and it trills happily. "I pick this one," says Ryujina. Two keepers in biohazard suits appeared and led it into a similar room that Winston's partner was led into. The group walked over to the window, and the screen lit up. It scanned the dino and began to inform the group about it. "Name: Dilophosaurus. Gender: female. Length: 23 feet. Height: 8 feet. Weight: 1100 lbs. Original era of residence: Early Jurassic period. This dinosaur's DNA gaps were filled with a mix of inland taipan, Indochinese spitting cobra, and blue ringed octopus DNA, giving it the most potent and lethal venom in the world. The venom itself is a cocktail of neurotoxins, myotoxins, hemotoxins, hyaluronidase enzyme, cytotoxins, and tetrodotoxins. When an enemy is bitten or spat at, symptoms include pain, swelling, motor and total paralysis, blindness, necrosis, respiratory and cardiac arrest, and extremely swift and painful death. Is this your choice, Intermediate Officer Ryujina Wolhakhi?" "Yes," she responded, "and I'll name it Itami-No-Doragon." "What the hell does that mean," asked Bones. "Pain Dragon," replied Ryujina. Ryujina typed in her team callsign. One single word; Stinger.

The team got back into the elevator and headed to the surface floor, which was the herbivorous Titan floor. The carnivorous ones were kept farther underground. This floor constantly shook, as the biggest dinosaurs on the island lay just beyond the door. They went towards the door, and Wilhelm stepped forward. He scanned his hand, and the door opened to a bunch of the biggest dinosaurs they had seen yet. Their heads were above the trees, so the team couldn't see them. The group followed Wilhelm as he climbed up the ladder on the tree. When they reached the top, they couldn't believe their eyes. Hundreds of these dinosaurs' heads were above the trees, using their impossibly long necks to bring their heads down to the tops of the trees to eat. The heard a massive crack and a crunching noise above them. They looked up and saw the biggest of all these sauropods. Its head leaned down towards Wilhelm and nudged his entire body. Wilhelm almost fell out of the tree. He got up and laughed. "I think this one likes me," he said. They looked at it. It was a beautiful and massive creature. Its head was an oblong shape, with soft green eyes. Its scales were a dark gray, mottled with dark greens and blues. Its body was as big as a house, and its tail was 30 feet long. "I'll take it," Wilhelm said as he and the team climbed down. He walked up to the window computer. It scanned the titanosaur on the other side of the glass, and it began to spout information about the creature. "Name: Dreadnoughtus. Gender: male. Shoulder Height: 2 stories. Length: 85 feet. Weight: 130,800 lbs. Original Age of Residence: Late Cretaceous Era. This dinosaur was not genetically modified in any way. Its thickly muscled tail was and is used to defend against the few predators it had. Is this your choice, IO Wilhelm Haiburg?" "Yes," Wilhelm answered, "and I will name it Koloss." For the callsign, Wilhelm wanted a name that NERO would fear. A name that would crush them. He typed "MJOLNIR" in the box. The team headed back to the elevator again, ready for the next choice.

The next floor was the Breaker floor. The entire hall is made out of steel. The circular metal door is heavily dented. Bones was excited to choose. "I've seen some weird shit in Australia, but nothing like this," he shouted excitedly. "I suggest you be careful in there," said Mayllard, " they're bigger than you, they're heavily armored, and they may crush or impale you if you piss them off. Have fun." The door opened, and Bones walked inside.

The room was a lakeside meadow. Surrounding the lake are many kinds of armored dinosaurs. Some of them Bones knew; Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus; the others he didn't know. One of them caught his eye. It stood about ten feet tall, but low to the ground, on four legs, and was 15 feet long. Its scales are dark purple with blood red blotches. It has many spikes; about twenty on the sides of its body to its tail, fifteen others jutting up on the top of its body. It also has many smaller spikes on its tail, and there are bony knobs on its backside before its tail. Its head was somewhat flat, the top of its head covered in thick skin. Its snout was beaked; it was a plant eater. It had small, brown eyes, which led Bones to believe that it was nearsighted. It looked at him and snorted. Bones picked up a tall, leafy horsetail plant, picked up some more and put them in his pockets, and walked towards the dinosaur. It sniffed the plant, then ate it. The dinosaur walked towards Bones, sniffing to see if he had any more horsetail. Bones handed it to the dinosaur, and it munched with delight. The dinosaur nudged his arm, and Bones patted its hard head. "I'll take this one, " said Bones. He walked out of the room and up to the glass. The computer began spouting the facts. " Name: Gastonia. Gender: female. Height: 10 feet. Length: 15 feet. Weight: 1 ton. Original Age of Residence: Early Cretaceous. As with all Breaker dinos, their skin is genetically modified to be bulletproof. Also, this specific specimen has a genetic compound that strengthens the leg and back muscles, allowing it a little more running speed and back strength." Bones named it "Adnoartina", the mythical lizard that guards Uluru in Aboriginal mythology. He typed in "Uluru" as the callsign.

Next was the Navy floor. The team stepped out of the elevator into the hall. The hall was made of black granite, and the walls were windowed. On the outside of the windows was the ocean, filled with coral, kelp, and many different types of prehistoric sea creatures. Tré walked up to the circular door. On the door was a golden nautilus with a large golden anchor behind it. "I hope you're ready to swim," said Mayllard, "because you're about to enter the Fish Tank, _alone. _Try not to get eaten or drown." Before Tré stepped into the airlock, Mayllard handed him a rebreather and a military-grade scuba mask. Tré stepped into the airlock, and was sucked into the water. Tré swam around in the water, trying to find an aqua. He noticed an interesting creature slowly swimming toward him. It was 49 feet long, and had four paddle-like fins. It had a serpentine body, with a fluked tail, and scales that glowed, literally glowed, with multiple shades of blue, allowing camouflage in deep ocean environs. Its head and snout are vaguely cylindrical and crocodile-like, with nostrils positioned near its eyes. Its dull yellow eyes stare at him, trying to decide whether he was friend or food. The creature swims in circles around him. Tré is prepared to dive just in case this massive creature attacks. The creature swims forward, jaws open, revealing its sharp teeth. In the back of its mouth, near its throat, were a set of sharp palatal teeth. He saw this and froze. If he didn't dodge this gigantic creature, he was fucked. He dove down just in time, as the creature attacked. He looked at its underside, and noticed that there is a sea urchin stuck to its stomach. That's what was pissing it off. It was in pain. He swam up to it and removed it. The giant creature whirled around and stared him in the face. It then made a sound that sounded like a mix of whalesong and a squirrel chittering, then it licked him. He swam with it back to the airlock and got in. He walked to the window computer, and the computer began to spout info. "Name: Tylosaurus. Length: 49 feet. Weight: 20 tons. Gender: Female. Original Age of Residence: Late Cretaceous. This specimen is engineered with multiple types of jellyfish DNA, giving it a form of bioluminescence that gives it visual camouflage in the ocean." Tre named it "Scylla". For his callsign, he typed in "Whirlpool". The team stepped into the elevator, and as they did, the colonel spoke, saying, "After going to get the other two members' dinos, we get to witness Nicolas picking a ptero up at the Bluffs. That will be extremely exciting!"


End file.
